[IMG:L]Last week, American Idol lost arguably its most talented and colorful (tattoo-wise) singer as the field was narrowed down to five contestants. But Irish-born San Diego resident Carly Smithson, 24, has already chosen to look at the positive side of elimination…
On her tattoo that is constantly mistaken for a picture of Amy Winehouse:
“You know, it’s a geisha… It’s just not colored in and everyone keeps asking me why I have Amy Winehouse on my arm, but it’s actually been on my arm for two years before she even came out. So when it’s colored in you guys will all understand… It’s so funny, even Andrew Lloyd Webber said, ‘Oh, look, you have Amy Winehouse on your arm.’ I’m like, ‘No.’ It was funny, but I love my tattoo and that was one thing in the show that really bothered me–that it wasn’t finished and we never get any time, you know.”
On the bright side of being eliminated:
“I feel like American Idol has given me such a gift, such a platform to be able to launch myself off of…and no more theme songs! I’m actually–I’m not that sad to be leaving. I enjoyed every minute thoroughly, but you know, we’re back in two weeks to start preparing for the tour and the finale. So it’s like a small break, and I’m going to be back. I think anywhere after [the] top ten is just a bonus. I think I made enough of an impact to be able to reach a good fan base, and now I get to be just me without a theme night and make a really cool record. So I’m excited.”
On her previously released album:
“I did get signed before, but [the album] just never really happened and it never came out. You know, it went to stores, but it was never promoted. It just kind of, like, crashed beneath my feet. The record label imploded, so I don’t know. You know, I learned a lot from my first experience, but I understand [American Idol] was a second experience, but I feel like it was my first chance… I like to not dwell on things that had happened before, and I just like to see this as the first real experience that I’ve really had. You know I learned so much more with this and had such more of a positive experience than I had ever had in the past.”
